Ancient Brethren of the Firekeepers: Book 1
by The Wolf Clan Leader
Summary: Maheegun, future leader of the Wolf Clan is on a journey to restore peace from the wrath of 'Them'. Can He, his wolfish companion Jargo make it to the Deep forest before it is too late? Set around 30 years before WolfBrother. Mild MaheegunxOC, rated T ish
1. Chapter 1

The Ancient Brethren of the Fire Keepers

Book 1: The desire for peace.

"Talking"

"Thinking"

Chapter 1: The beginning

The meeting point was deep in the forest, yes. But, Maheegun could not go. His own will power had been beaten by fear. Every minute was painful. He was seeing things. Shadows, shapes, and was hearing noises. They had come for him. It was not his time to go. Not yet, not here and not now.

The safest place would be with his brethren, with them he would fade away into the forest. He has done this many times, why is it now difficult? His pack was far away, yet he could make the trip without provisions, as long as he kept to the north-west. But Jargo had left the camp to hunt, and he didn't know the way. Maheegun could not leave the young wolf on his own to face the wrath of 'Them'. He had to stay until Jargo got back and any noise would lead 'Them' to him, so he couldn't risk a howl.

The shadows were now almost upon him, he should have run away when he had the chance. But that is what a coward would do, and, he was no coward. He would face them, and on his own......

He could not wait any longer, the anger inside was eating him. Patience was one of his talents, but this time it was different. Holding his knife by the hilt with his right hand, he clutched his bow with the other and slotted three arrows on the bowstring. With his knife hand he pulled the bowstring back stealthily. Set into position so he can shoot and then attack with his knife, he waited for 'Them'

Closer and closer the shadows came, and with them more noise. Maheegun didn't think that they would make so much noise, he thought they would be stealthy assassins. He pulled on his bowstring harder until he realized it wasn't Them. It was a group of hunters in the Red Deer Clan celebrating their kill. Maheegun was no more than small walk from their camp, behind a few thick evergreen trees. He was lucky and a little embarrassed, because the Red Deers don't like trespassers - and he should have seen their camp from his…

" _What is wrong with me?! I…I should have see- "_, he stopped thinking abruptly, and looked over to wear he had heard noises before.

Jargo had come back carrying a rabbit in his mouth, which Jargo gladly shared his catch with Maheegun. The Brethren meeting was now their top priority. Too long have they waited for provisions, and to long have they been at that camp site. Maheegun hated staying in one spot for to long. Together, they would journey up the Widewater and journey past Thunder Falls to avoid big hills. 'They' probably figured out their route, so Maheegun changed it to the longer path around the hills. He hoped that the World Spirit would bring good weather to counteract the mist and fog that has dreaded them for days.

Unlike Maheegun, Jargo was excited and scared at the same time. He had never been to this part of the forest before. But Maheegun knew it to well, it would have been safer to go through the hills, but if they did, 'They' would kill them. Every step started with a crunch or a crackle because the ground was frozen over. The land was so silent and eerie, and every now and again they would hear something move behind them, and Jargo would turn his head with fright and his ears would be in alert to catch the slightest noise. But each time, there was none. No sound besides the crunching and crackling of their footsteps (but in Jargo's case, paw steps).

The fog was still heavily upon them and in the distance they could hear the roaring crashes of Thunder Falls. Jargo let out a warning bark, soon followed by a whine to tell Maheegun that he feels they are in danger.

'Shhhhh!', Maheegun said urgently. For a moment he thought he had heard something – but who knows? Could his ears be deceiving him?

Something moved behind them, something big - but stealthy. In the fog they could not see anything beyond five child paces. They resumed their walking which was lead only by the roaring of Thunder Falls. It took total concentration to walk to the _east_ of the falls. Any confusion could cost them their life. Again something moved, so they turned around - a fatal mistake. The fog was now so heavy that it nearly drowned out the noise of Thunder Falls. The only thing to do was to sit down and make camp where they were, and hope for better the next morning.

Something stirred the forest that night, but both Maheegun and Jargo were fast asleep. Maheegun dreamt of his father. He dreamt of ….the days before his duty. But, as he slept, he thought of why e went that way.

"_Was it really necessary? Did I really have to go the long way? Or was it the Paranoia telling your fate – if you chose the other way? Hmmmph…."_, he thought it was strange to be talking to himself in his sleep – but then took no notice of it any longer and resumed sleeping away.

He started out in the Deep Forest - exactly where he was heading! He had a camp half a day walk from the edge of the Tumblerock. That is where 'They' drove him out and nearly slaughtered him. He was forced to take a new route. And not long after that, he made the almost fatal decision of camping near a Red Deer camp.

Something awakened Maheegun, it was a wolf, not Jargo, and not like any wolf he had every encountered before. He tried to befriend this wolf, but it growled and slobbered and stumbled everywhere. It was wounded internally. It growled and snapped at everything in sight and nearly bit Maheegun. Jargo was nowhere to be seen – and this worried Maheegun. This wolf had a sickness that Maheegun has never seen before. It was a killer. Its slobber poisoned everything it dropped on. The sick wolf staggered around and then with out warning, tried to attack. But, Jargo had heard everything - he smelled everything. He smelled the horrible sickness the wolf carried, it was lethal, even to man. He jumped onto the cooking pot cooling next to Maheegun, and the bucket hit the ground and cracked, spilling the fluids near the crazed animal. The wolf jumped and yowled and stumbled away. Jargo warned Maheegun not to touch anything that the slobber has dropped on, for this is how the disease spread.

The next day most of the fog had cleared up and Maheegun had burned everything the slobber and dropped on, including his pack. All he had left was his knife, his bow, a few arrows, an axe he was able to make, and his medicine pouch. With no food or water they had to conserve _anything_ edible that they could find. They headed for the north-western edge of the Deep Forest, where they should be safe from 'Them' and the sickness.

Maheegun had made a few snares, which he set along rabbit holes and branches for the squirrels and birds. When he caught something, he found then very small and skinny; barely any meat for him alone. When Jargo came back with his meal, Maheegun sighed with relief that Jargo had something to eat. But he wondered how much he should give to the clan guardian. A selfish thought came into his mind. With guilt he gave it half and told Jargo that they need to keep moving.

Soon after they passed the last hill, the darkness came very soon setting both Maheegun and Jargo back several daywalks. The moon shone no more for several darknesses and the elder trees whispered no more lullabys to their children the forest. The days shortened and the nights grew longer. Nothing was right, and everything had changed. The Brethren were expecting him many lights ago and it would still take _at least_ another seven day walks, to arrive. Maheegun was in charge of making sure no one has seen them or seen any signs of them. All he knew was that 'They' were after him and that there were many dangers lurking in the Deep Forest, including the sickness the wolf had a few lights ago.

They were now into the real Deep forest and there was barely any sunlight. They had been surviving on hardly any food or water, and both were most happy to find running water near their camp. As they scouted upstream, they spotted three deer, a doe with a mate and a challenger mate. It was time for the Rut, and Maheegun knew how violent it could get. He hoped that with all the fighting, one of them would be weak enough for him to take down with his bow, or at least, they could break one of their antlers; because Maheegun was out of supplies and, if he didn't hurry, it could cost him his life.....and the life of his companion…….


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Valley-field

The wind blew against Maheegun as he and his companion Jargo raced across an open field in the Deep Forest. It was the first time either of them saw fresh daylight. They had spent the last four days walking through the dense vegetation that grew there. Maheegun had whispered a thanks to the World Spirit for bringing them nice weather. He had tripped over an old camp fire stone, and was laying on his back gasping for air. He had done it. he had beaten Jargo at a race; and it wasn't one of Jargo's off-days. He was so happy. As he tried to lift himself up, Jargo had come over and licked his face saying,

_'Well Done, brother. You are now officially where you were five summers ago, a pup! '_, Jargo said with the most sarcasm in his tone. Wolves show sarcasm too! And Jargo was not pleased with being out run by a tailless, even if he was his pack-brother.

Nights shortened finally and Maheegun had set up camp in the valley field. No trace of 'Them', he thought, and no trace of the sickness either. That night they slept relatively well, awoken a few times by the worry of not sleeping well.

Morning came, and with it, breakfast! There were several rabbits washing in the morning dew. Many of them big enough for the two of them. Maheegun had fashioned a throwing club and snares made out of willow twine he was able to rescue from his pack. By the time the sun was up, Maheegun had caught two big rabbits, along with a deer he was able to shoot. He cleaned the rabbits and the deer and tanned the hides for clothing and packs. Next he had dried the venison up on a rack and was smoking it with juniper branches and lingonberries. The smell made his mouth water. The rabbits were then skinned and gutted and one rabbit was cooked for the day, the other was dried for later use.

He used the bones for fish hooks, arrow tips, spear tips (which he stored in his new pack) and scrapers for the hides. Nothing was wasted; he didn't know when they would get another chance to stock up on supplies and on food. The blood was made into sausages, the brains were used to tan the skins, the teeth were used to make jewellery for his future mate (If he managed to get one) and the hooves to make strong glue.

Everything was great, he had Jargo, his beloved wolf companion, and he had the Brethren of the Fire-Keepers, whom he must still find. But the fact he was there in that valley field, it made him feel so alive and happy. A place he may never venture out of, this, to him, felt like home.

' _Never leave me_ ', Maheegun said to Jargo who laid beside him that night.

' _I wont – at least not that often.', _Jargo joked, '….._ but we must leave this valley, it's cursed. I sense it - trust me!_ ', Jargo felt bad about this, but he had the need to stand by it….

' _Leave the valley?! But this is home!_ '

' _No this __ISN'T __home, brother. Trust me!_ '

Silence stood between them. Maheegun was now mad at Jargo, but something inside him told him otherwise. He was mad and sad and guilty all at once. He was going crazy. Was it the valley, or maybe it was the sickness? Despite their recent argument, Jargo had to get Maheegun out of the valley, and as fast as possible……

Maheegun awoke the following morning with a jolt, he was not in the valley anymore, but underneath an old oak tree up on the western ridge. His pack-brother had dragged him all the way there, during his sleep. Yet, Jargo was nowhere to be seen. He was positioned facing another oak with the bark scratched off. This was the same for all of the trees in that direction. Jargo was clearly showing Maheegun his path. Maheegun gathered his pack and followed the trail of the scattered bark.

'Stupid dog…..gets me out of my comfortable environment, drags me up a mountain….stupid dog..', he mumbled to himself as he walked along the ridge.

He stopped when he heard the drums of the Auroch Clan. He guessed they were celebrating the all too great wedding of their leader, young Belktru. Maheegun had heard about this warrior, apparently he was as strong as an elk and had more determination than anyone in all of the clans. His mate was a young girl around nineteen summers named Oktla. Maheegun knew this because Oktla was his lost cousin from the Willow Clan.

After his long rest, Maheegun set back out to find Jargo. Was this Jargo's way of getting Maheegun to move faster? Is he playing, helping, or is he really gone? Nothing was for sure. It was a long time before he realized where he was…but he hoped he was only a day walk to the Brethren meeting. A day walk from definitely defeating 'Them'. The thought made Maheegun was happy, that one thought made his day brighten up. Grinning or smiling was rare for him, only when fully content would he smile – and that would be brief.

Jargo was found licking his hind-end in a near by stream. He was happy to see his pack-brother, he paused from his bottom-licking and let out a whine,

' _Are you ok? You look real rough !_',

' _OOOH! Well now……I wonder why! '_ , and with that, Jargo leapt on Maheegun and licked him all over.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The drunken Aurochs

It was before dawn the time Maheegun and Jargo set off from the camp by the stream. The last specks of darkness took refuge under the trees, where it was then called shade. And as the two of them journeyed up the ridge, They noticed that the drums had seized and there was silence. Pure silence. It reminded them of the time of the treacherous fog that imprisoned them up by Thunder Falls, and how it drowned out all noises – and made them lose valuable time. Even Jargo couldn't hear anything, which confused him greatly.

Still it was dark, and the mischievous two decided to pay a visit to the sleeping Auroch Clan they were. Stealthily they crawled across the camp and slipped into the storage shelter, taking anything that looked and smelled good or useful. Maheegun took an axe, a new jerkin, some salmon cakes, a knife, a sleeping sack, a water skin, and a questionable fruit. Jargo on the other hand didn't save anything but gobbled everything up straight away. Putting everything in his pack, Maheegun made his way to Oktla's shelter leaving Jargo behind to eat everything , and left a short message carved into an Auroch bone.

' _Jargo! Hurry! We need to get out of here!_', Maheegun said in the quietest voice that he could do.

' _But I'm not finished! Just a moment…_', Jargo stuffed his head in a rawhide bag to reach the raw meat. '_…there – wait a moment! That's new!_', he was gnawing at a lace holding hanging fowl. It was a trap, and Maheegun noticed it just in time.

' _No, No! Jargo! Over here, brother…._', He tried to throw his voice without awaking any aurochs, and was frantically waving his arms, seeking attention from his pack-brother, thrusting his weight from one leg to the other. ' _…Jargo!!!_'.

And it worked, but barely. Jargo had stopped gnawing at the lace and turned around. He weaved around the sleeping bodies, desperately trying not to disturb them. He bumped into a man, he yawned and rolled over. Dawn's rays were now shining upon them, and the hunting dogs awoke. Barking and howling they had clearly sensed something had disturbed the camp in the night. When they woke, they had woken their masters, they searched around the camp to find anything missing, and all their storage was gone, so a hunting party was unleashed.

Maheegun and Jargo were a fair distance away from the camp, but they could still hear the intimidating calls of the hunters. Confident that they will make it out alive, they set out traps and false trails – and stayed in the streams whenever the could. Finally, guilt struck and Maheegun was ashamed of what he had done. He thought of ways he could make it up to them, so he slowly put down the knife he stole and the questionable fruit. He already had a knife and didn't understand why he had taken another.

The Auroch hunters were catching up to them, and they finally came across the sack of equipment Maheegun had taken. Belktru picked up the sack and emptied it on the ground. One knife and a fruit, and a few rocks to make the sack seem heavier.

' They think they are smart, eh?', said Belktru, he put his hand in the mud, and slowly brought it back up, and weighed it. ' we do not take in thieves and trespassers kindly, do we, Aklof?'

' No', said Aklof – Belktru's best friend and advisor. 'We don't, so they better watch out'

' Exactly. And the clan mage told me that I am unstoppable. Will these thieves get out of hand?' Belktru's hand was covered in mud, and was slowly drying out.

' Of course not, you are the greatest tracker in the Deep Forest, you will crush them while they are sleeping.' Aklof was lying, Beltru's greatest talent was strength and weakest was tracking, he didn't have very good sight and was too impatient. He couldn't even see a fire in the forest.

'Well then…..', his had clenched into a fist, ' ….as you say, I will crush them in their sleep!!', He wondered why Aklof said ' _while they were asleep_' – why couldn't he kill them while they were awake? He shrugged the thought off and resumed with his 'tough guy' act. His fist tightened and the mud inside squirted out with enormous force. ' Will you join me?'

' Of course, I want to see it as much as you!', he was laughing in his head.

' Then it is settled…..' , Belktru smirked.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: They south-eastern ridge and the horrible deeds of Belktru

Maheegun was worn with fatigue. His hair was dripping with cold water from the river. He tried hard not to look down into the dark abyss of the river. The Hidden-people were watching, waiting to strike. Both him and Jargo were almost admitting defeat, but couldn't, they were almost to the south-eastern ridge – where they would shelter for the night.

He woke a fire, and re-dried the wet venison and salmon cakes, it was night and that night seemed darker that the rest, it seemed too untrue. Jargo laid soundlessly beside him near the fire. Maheegun noticed blood on his paws, and tried to treat them by wrapping buckskin from his old jerkin on each paw, forming boots. Jargo let out a whine in his sleep, and started kicking his legs. This worried Maheegun, Jargo was a young wolf, and ran along side him in many adventures – always.

Words came out of his mouth, slowly and soon followed by a hum. His mother used to sing these words to Maheegun, when he was a baby. So Jargo could understand, he spoke in wolf.

' _When the breeze from the mountains,_

_blows in the valleys,_

_come the elk and the moose at the waters edge._

_Come the elk and the moose,_

_and the auroch. _

_Come the hunters in the night._

_Come the grouse and the deer that feed us,_

_and to the owls at night take flight._

_Wolf child, be kind, be warm and strong and but fierce._

_Become our hero, and our chief,_

_a gift from the spirits you were…._

_Become a great hunter, tracker, archer,_

_become a great hero, our young chief._'

Maheegun drifted into a sleep. He muttered the words:

'_When the breeze from the mountains,_

_blows in the valleys,_

_come the elk and the moose at the waters edge…….._'

Jargo woke up with fright, The men who smelled of auroch, were coming and were closer than ever! He whined and then gave a deep 'Uff!!' to warn Maheegun of danger. Maheegun could hear them too. There was a party of about eight auroch hunters, presumably still looking for their stock.

Belktru was nearing the high south-eastern ridge. He stood at the front of the party; a large party, made to look intimidating and to scare the thieves out of hiding. His hand was still covered in a thin layer of drying mud, and he walked near a spread of sand. Belktru crouched down and touched the dampened tracks. He muttered, ' Fresh….', he turned and looked at Aklof – and sneered. '…. They are trying to trick us. Why else would they walk on sand?'

' To convince us that they are trying to trick us in going the wrong way, eh?', a man in the group said quietly to the others, 'I doubt the chief will figure that out, eh?', the man tapped his head with his forefinger, and he and some others chuckled quietly. Belktru had heard them, and the rest of the group were nudging them to stop.

'So what's funny…may I ask? Huh?', their leader asked. ' You… Hthosk!', he pointed at the man who told the joke. ' Tell me, what were you laughing at?', his hand was propped up on Hthosk's shoulder. ' Please, share. Share!'.

Hthosk was scared, and was shivering with fear. ' U-uh, w-ell', he croaked. Belktru's grip was tightening by the minute. ' I made a joke about your tracking skills – it was only a joke! Ahh! uah! ' Please, chief! It was only a joke!'. Belktru's grip loosened and he took his arm off of Hthosk's shoulder.

' You have seemed to make a lot of jokes at me lately, and I hear that you are an expert tracker. Is that true?', his arms were behind his back fiddling with his knife.

' Why, yes it is! I'm the greatest tracker in the Deep Forest!', Hthosk boasted. He smiled and wiped his nose on his clan-creature fur.

'Hmm…', Belktru had taken out the knife from the sheath. It was a sharp, narrow, red obsidian blade with a heavy antler handle useful for digging into narrow places. 'we could use your eyes…', he then turned towards Aklof and smirked. When he walked up to him and the other men, he said, ' Take his eyes out, and through them into the stream.', Belktru passed his knife to Aklof, and he took it with hesitation.

'But it's not right! Please understand!', he whispered, and he tried to give it back, but Belktru forced it on him. Hthosk was too busy observing his nose mucus to notice the two men arguing.

'I want you to do the honors, Aklof!', he forced the knife on him once more, and Aklof took it. The men were ashamed and lost respect for their leader, but gained fear of him. Hthosk finally looked up and saw the men crowding around him. Two men on each side to hold him in place and one man in the back to hold his head. Aklof, the Auroch mage's son, walked towards the pinned man with the knife held high. Hthosk yelled and Aklof cut his eyes out. He screamed at the top of his voice, and Belktru wondered how far the scream could be heard from.

Landr the chief's brother, tossed the bloody eyes into the slow flowing stream. Where they rolled back to look at him, and he filled with fear. Aklof's hands were covered in blood, and as he dipped his hands in the stream and brought them out again, he stared at the man he basically killed, and was ashamed.

' Let us now hope the world spirit will be pleased with our offering……and bring me the skill Hthosk once had.', Belktru said. His smirk never ended. What the people believed to be a great hero and leader, was in fact a murderer.

' What. An offering of blood and hatred?! Do you think the World Spirit would be pleased with the offering of slaughter of a person?!! The World Spirit would NOT be pleased! This is a time of peace! Not hatred! Your old ways do not belong here Belktru, noble elk! A new time, an new dawn! Jealousy and envy cannot be allowed to control! Change! Or meet a death caused by the pain and suffering you bring to others!!', Aklof burst. He tried to right his old friend, but is was far from working. With anger he picked up the bloody knife and threw it in the shallow water. It smashed to pieces. ' The only way!', he said, with tears running down his face , across his clan-tattoos. 'The only way!'.

Belktru was horrified that Aklof had stood up to him, this had made the men confident. Aklof had taken out his medicine horn and spat in the red ochre powder, this made it runny and useful. He walked towards Hthosk and kneeled, and dipped his finger in the paste, and drew a circle around the heart, the heels, and the forehead, the soul marks. 'Rest easy, these are just in case', he said in pity.

'Thank you..', Hthosk said with all of his breath. He couldn't hold out much longer, the wounds had lost too much blood. And with his last breath he said, 'Damn you, Belktru! May the future generations of your family die horribly deaths!!!', he then died, he had stated his final words, to curse the young leader. The men waited for hours before burning Hthosk, they had to wait until the souls were clearing the air.

Belktru kneeled down by the sand spread and said, ' Landr, Itah , Thresha, and Hrenfir, follow me. Everyone else…..move out!', he was hiding his fear. Like he should.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The south-eastern valley

Maheegun and the young wolf were far from the ridge and had hoped that the sand pit trick worked. They were running free and towards his birth place in the lynx clan. There he should be safe from the Auroch hunters, 'Them' and the sickness. His mother was a lynx and his father was a wolf, and he never got to know either of them. When he was two summers old his mother left to go back to her birth clan, and by the time he was three summers old, he could look after himself in the forest. Maheegun's father died in battle when he was six winters old, and he didn't know if his mother was still alive, and he didn't even remember what she looked like.

As he walked in the lower valley next to the south-eastern ridge, Maheegun looked up to watch Jargo leap on the rocky stones that crowded the valley. The sun was high in the sky and Jargo started to play with his shadow which was facing south-west. They were on the right trail, but Belktru was not.

Belktru and his men, Landr, Thresha, and Hrenfir were following the trail of the sandpit, the trick that Maheegun had carefully planned. Maheegun had ran lightly on the sand and made the hunters think that it was a trick to go the other way, when he and Jargo had gone that way. Incase anyone did follow, he had climbed a tree and jumped to the next one and so on and finally wading upstream a bit, to throw the hunter of his trail. Landr had suspected a trick, and told Thresha who told Hrenfir the Seer. Hrenfir was the Auroch mages twin brother and shared the skill of magecraft with him. Hrenfir gathered hair from the wolf-boy's camp ground on the ridge and mixed it with yellow paste and lit it to a bright flame. He was seeing the boy's whereabouts and his thoughts were Hrenfir's thoughts. Belktru the mighty new about the Brethren, he now knew about the Keepers of Fire….

Meanwhile, Aklof and his men Ioskna and D'hrun had come across Itah who had been sent to spread the news of the wolf-boy's whereabouts to the others. Itah was a runner, he had loved to run since he was a young boy. He would run in rain, hail, sun, or snow, and he was even known to run across quicksand without sinking. He was a born runner, brought by the World Spirit to deliver his messages across the forest. Itah was worn out, he had run the equivalent of two day walks. Aklof had come over and patted him on the back, which made Itah even more breathless.

Maheegun and Jargo were anxious, they needed to get on higher ground, and make their way closer to the Lynx settlement. They didn't think that they were far from it, but the worry about the hunters drove them mad. Where could they go without bringing suffering and destruction? The birds were chirping and a warm breeze blew through the trees. It was a nice day and the gentle sound of the trickling stream made Maheegun relax. Jargo was busy pawing at crawdad holes so he decided to take a short nap, to gain his strength back. Jargo could hear movement over the ridge, could it be the hunters? 'Them'? The sickness? Or some new danger waiting for them to tread across like the spiders that kill the mighty who tread across their lair. Jargo didn't know, and he had to find out. He ran up the ridge and looked over, like a wolf guarding pups. He was risking his life to save his tailless brother, who would do anything for him. He lifted his head above a big boulder that would provide him shade as he looked out for danger. The hunters were nowhere to be seen. Neither were 'Them' nor the sickness. The young wolf was very confused, and he rested his head on the rock again. When suddenly he saw movement in the forest, the birds flew out of the trees in rush, and a scent of lynx filled the air. The Lynx Clan! He must alert Maheegun! In a split second, Jargo had leapt up and raced down towards his pack-brother. As he rushed past the air, it pushed against him like a tornado, making him stop in his tracks. But no, Jargo loved this feeling and kept on racing across the field and up to the overhanging where Maheegun had been sleeping.

' _Brother! Brother, get up! The taillesses that smell of lynx are here! Get up!_', Jargo was excited, he jumped on Maheegun and licked him but he wouldn't get up. He was in a very deep sleep. Finally and annoyed, Jargo had rolled him over and bit him in the buttocks! In pain, Maheegun awoke – angrily.

'_Jargo – ! When I'm finished with you!_', his deep voice was like a big boom! '_What was that for, eh?_', Maheegun rubbed the sore, bitten area. He was angry with Jargo and didn't know what was going on.

' _The taillesses! The ones who smell of lynx! They are here!_', Jargo repeated. He was sorry to bite his brother – but it was the only way.

'_Where?!!!_', Maheegun's eyes went wide. He couldn't believe it. They could be saved. He got up as fast as he could, accidentally banging his head against the cave wall in the process.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Lynx

Getting into the Lynx Clan was difficult. They had to be accepted in, and that could take days. Maheegun couldn't wait that long, the Brethren were expecting him over fifteen days ago – any longer and they would declare him dead. He realized that he hadn't thought this through….and he regretted it. The fire shard around his neck was brightening and he could feel it burning into him. The Brethren was calling him. He must get into that camp – and unnoticed. That would be hard, there were ceremonies and celebrations happening all night, and Maheegun was sitting behind a tree just outside of the camp.

' _Jargo, go scout around the camp and look for a unused shelter. Be careful, and don't let anybody see you, especially the dogs. You hear? Ok, go!_', Maheegun was scared for Jargo. This was the biggest task he had ever done. Jargo sneaked behind a shelter checking if any taillesses were in. This one was used. He checked the shelters near the outside of the camp, one of them Jargo declared unused. He sneaked back the way he came to get to Maheegun, and Maheegun followed the wolf to the empty shelter. It was a storage shelter, and he told Jargo not to disturb anything yet. In the shelter, there was an area to sleep, and next to it, baskets of dried salmon that the Lynx traded for. Maheegun put his pack and his equipment down, he pushed the baskets nearer to where he slept so if anyone passed outside, they wouldn't see him or Jargo.

That night Maheegun and Jargo slept comfortably. But, the shard around Maheegun's neck shone very brightly. It even shone through the layers of buckskin and fur that Maheegun put over it to eliminate shine. The lynx were passed out in heavy sleep. They didn't notice anything. Snores were the main sound in the night, and it was very disturbing.

The next morning, Maheegun laid awake and silent, staring at the fire shard that hung around his neck. The shine had nearly burned out. He had slept so comfortably and had used Jargo as a pillow – but he didn't mind. Maheegun rolled over and shut his eyes, and tried to go back to sleep. When he heard a noise, someone had opened the flap of his shelter. It was a young woman. She came in and stacked baskets of dried salmon and fishcakes, and sang the words:

'_When the breeze from the mountains,_

_blows in the valleys,_

_come the elk and the moose at the waters edge._'

She then hummed it. It was the same song his mother used to sing to him as a young child. It calmed him, and he loved it. Maheegun stood lifelessly still as the woman continued to stack the salmon. A tall man came in and stood in the door-way. She didn't notice him until he came up behind her and put his hands on her eyes, closing them.

'Guess who', the tall man said. He had a smile almost to big for his face, and his short sleeveless jerkin made him look taller than he actually was.

'Ooh! I wonder who that could be! I think I know…Quirnoc!', the woman burst out laughing, and Quirnoc came forward from behind her and kissed her on the cheek, with his hands still covering her eyes. She put down the basket of dried salmon and grabbed his hands and batted them off of her face, saying, 'I have to prepare the clan feast, my father says it is an honor…..I might as well start early.', she resumed with the collecting of the dried fish and Quirnoc took a step to the door flap, then he turned and faced towards her.

' I know your father doesn't approve of me, but I don't understand why he approved of that Wolf clan boy. Y'know…I'm better than him.', he was jealous of the woman's first mate. But tried his best not to show it.

' How do you know? You have never met him before…have you?', she was on to him, she knew he was a little bit jealous. 'My father doesn't know you well enough. Talk to him tonight. Maybe he will like you……', she paused and walked up to him, carrying the baskets of fish. ' I'll always like you.', she smiled and kissed him on the cheek. She then passed by him and walked out through the door flap. When she was gone, Quirnoc smiled and yawned.

'Maybe I'll help her…', he said, finally moving himself near he salmon. He picked up four baskets. Two on the right and two on the left, and walked out of the shelter.

Maheegun gasped for air. He held his breath for nearly three minutes, and his face went blue. His jaw dropped. He couldn't believe what just happened. Since it was before dawn, it was too dark in the shelter for anyone to notice him. The lady looked mighty familiar and the smell of salmon made his stomach growl.

It was just beginning to light up when Maheegun woke Jargo and gathered their things. They hoped that the shelter would be available again that night. With fear of getting caught, they planned to silently crawl out of the shelter, and try to make their way beyond the camp. They were nearly to the entrance when Quirnoc came back in to carry more salmon baskets. He stepped into the shelter and unintentionally kicked Maheegun in the ribs.

' Ahh-.', Maheegun groaned in pain. He didn't mean to make any noise, but it felt like a reflex.

'Who's there? Show yourself!', Quirnoc said. He thought it was a demon or a ghost.

Maheegun tried to make the pain ease by sighing. As he did so Quirnoc saw a dark figure laying near the entrance. ' Who are you?', Quirnoc said – a little scared.

' A-a f-riend….', Maheegun was able to say, he lifted his arm in peace. Blood was running out of his nose and mouth. ' I am no harm to you…'. Jargo had escaped and Maheegun knew he would try and save him later. Everything went blurry and he passed out. Quirnoc could see the figure clearer now because of dawn's rays. He poked him in the arm and quickly pulled back, checking if he was awake. When he noticed that the boy was unconscious, he pulled him out of the shelter and threw him on his back. As Quirnoc walked through the camp with an outsider on his back everyone looked with curiosity.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Questions……

Maheegun woke up. His nose stung and his mouth tasted of blood. He didn't know where he was and felt scared. He tried lifting his arms but failed, as they were tied behind his back and to a post. His belongings were taken from him, his jerkin, knife, medicine pouch, pack, water, food. But he still wore the fire shard on a lace around his neck. He tried to sit up and look around but couldn't, the pain in his ribs were excruciating, and he yelped.

' You should be still…..', a voice said. Maheegun refused and turned his head towards the voice. It was a girl his age. ' What are you doing here?', she asked.

'Passing through.', Maheegun groaned. 'What are you doing?'

'What does it look like I'm doing, eh?', she kept on cleaning his cuts and wounds, and stared at the fire shard hanging around his neck. ' What is that anyway?', she nodded towards the shard.

' A stone.' He didn't want anyone to know about the Brethren. She reached for the shard, 'Careful!', Maheegun warned her.

'Ouch!', she recoiled. The shard had burned her, as it does to whoever touches it , except, the members of the Brethren. ' Who are you?', she really wanted to know.

' I'll tell you my name if you tell me yours first.', Maheegun stated. The girl was amazed at the strength he had to keep up.

' Oh yeah…tricked by a little boy', she said sarcastically.

' Hey I'm no little boy! I'm nearly seventeen summers old, I'm guessing the same age as you!!', he exclaimed, he was offended.

A voice was calling from the other side of the camp. 'Rika! Come! I'll take care of the outsider.

' Looks like I've gotten information on you..', she said smiling and walking away.

' Same here!', Maheegun croaked. ' Rika!', she turned around looking at him, '…see you round, eh?'. Rika turned back around and ran towards the festivities. His eyes followed her path. When she was gone, he turned back around and smiled. 'Rika', he said.

' I think she like you, you know.', said a voice. Maheegun turned back around and saw the salmon lady from his shelter. ' Do you like her?'

'She is a bit…well..', he paused and tried to find the right word. '…yeah.', he admitted.

' Let's get you dressed up, then.', she helped him get his jerkin on, while singing:

'_When the breeze from the mountains,_

_blows in the valleys,_

_come the elk and the moose at the waters edge._'

'My mother used to sing me that song when I was younger', Maheegun said

'Really?', she was amazed, she thought only her family knew that song. 'What did she sing after that?'

'Um.. I can't sing, but she said:

_Come the elk and the moose,_

_and the auroch. _

_Come the hunters in the night._

_Come the grouse and the deer that feed us,_

_and to the owls at night take flight._

_Wolf child, be kind, be warm and strong and but fierce._

_Become our hero, and our chief,_

_a gift from the spirits you were._

_Be a great hunter, tracker, archer,_

_be a great hero, our young chief._', Maheegun tried his best to sing, but failed and ended up just repeating the words.

' Who was your mother?', the woman asked. She was listening intently.

'I don't remember. She left when I was very young.', Maheegun was bringing back old memories. '…and then my father died……..'. The woman cut in.

'He did?? I mean…carry on!', she was hiding something. Maheegun looked at her, examining every detail of her face.

'…..and he said she was lynx clan. But I think she could be anywhere. I don't know if she is still alive.', he continued.

'My mother used to sing me that song too. Except without the third bit……', she sighed, ' ….I am sure your mother did what she did to protect you.'. She finished helping him and her mood suddenly changed. ' There. Do you feel any better? Come join the festivities. I am sure if Rika is there, she will save you a dance!', she then laughed at Maheegun.

' Oh no! Please! No!', she grabbed him by the arm and pulled, he yelped. He was in pain, and could barely move a muscle, how was he going to dance!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The horrible cheerfulness of the lynx.

Maheegun was the sorest he had ever been before and could barely move. He hobbled as fast as he could to a shelter and then collapsed. He had gotten out of dancing, he now had to get out of the camp. After falling asleep, Maheegun was in peace for a short while. He was woken up by people coming in for drinks from time to time. If he could have gotten up, he would have. But he felt as though the world had fallen on his legs, and pinned them down. He preferred being tied to the post than to take part in the lynx's merrymaking, as he wasn't big on loud noises. With all of his strength, Maheegun lifted himself up and limped to the post. Next to it was his gear, piled on a table and displayed for the chief. Maheegun grabbed everything and tried to make it out of the camp, and he did.

'Idonu! Idonu! Where is the prisoner?', shouted the Lynx chief , worried.

The woman from Maheegun's shelter said, ' He is dancing!', she scanned the camp and saw he wasn't there. ' Or not!'.

' Everyone! Stop! The outsider! He has escaped!', the chief was out of breath, and he was very old. His daughter, Idonu, had a mate, Quirnoc. He would be the new chief. Quirnoc had to prove his strength somehow. Everyone stopped and turned towards the distressed chief, he was bent down and gasping for air. ' Find him…..Quirnoc, find him!', he pointed to Quirnoc, and Quirnoc's expression widened. Idonu was looking at him.

' Don't hurt him.', she whispered. He looked at her with curiosity.

' Why not?'.

'Because…….he is my son.', Idonu was staring deeply into his eyes. He was shocked. He had no idea that she had a child. And was especially shocked because it was also his enemy's, Iryk of the Wolf Clan.

'What?', the question came naturally and saying it was a reflex. ' Why didn't you tell me before?

'I didn't know how to tell you – or when to tell you.', she protested. ' Quirnoc.', he looked away, and Idonu pulled his head towards her. ' I'm sorry! Please forgive me.', Quirnoc yanked his head back and out of her reach, he was mad and surprised. He made his way through the watching crowd and bowed to the old chief, before heading to hunt Maheegun…

Maheegun was not far from the camp when he heard the howls of the young wolf, Jargo. He was on the run – again, from 'Them', the sickness, the auroch hunters. How could he do this to himself? He was hunted by almost all the strong in the Deep Forest. Once united with his pack-brother will he be safer, or even better, the Brethren. The fire shard was burning bright and hot, and Maheegun was worried that it might attract his predators.

Limping and hobbling, he was crossing a ditch near the stream, when he decided to make camp for the night. The ditch was long enough for him to sleep if he bent his knees, and was wide enough for him and his pack. Bending his knees was a problem, it was too much pain for him. Maheegun grabbed a flat stone from the dried out streambed, and chipped the soft dirt away, desperately trying to gain more room without over working himself. This was barely a success – because he dug in such a way that the top kept caving in the bottom, with his feet trapped in. Every now and again, he felt bugs crawling past them, and it tickled.

After a few hours of rest, Maheegun was good enough to carry on. His feet were a little sore, but his knees felt better. He ran along the edge of the stream and splashed his face with the freezing water, trying not to open his eyes so he won't be carried away by the Hidden-people. It was very early morning, and had just fully darkened. The wind was still, and all was silent. Maheegun preferred this, he did not like the noisy customs of the Lynx Clan, nor the rude customs of the Aurochs. He loved his home land, and he loved going to the sea when his uncle traded his clan's stock. He missed it, but he has a new life as a fire-keeper, and he must honor that. Something moved behind him, but Maheegun didn't notice, the sound of the running stream drowned all other noises out. It moved again, and this time he had heard it. He kept on rinsing the dirt off of his arms, but something was moving towards him. ' You know.. I can hear you.', he said while scratching his back with a frayed twig.

' AND?! It's not like I'M the one hunting you!', a girls voice said, it was Rika. She was acting as though she wasn't bothered. But she really was. ' You look beaten..', she smiled and crossed her arms.

'So do you.', with his free hand, he point to the dark patches of mud where she had fallen in the dark. ' What are you doing here, anyway?', he stopped scratching and dropped the twig, he then walked towards her.

' Hunting-', she lied, 'I- was hunting.'

' Where is your bow then?', he was on to her.

' Uhh-. Ok. I was looking for you. Happy?', she was embarrassed, and tried not to show it. He looked at her and nodded.

' Yeah. I guess.', he stopped pestering her and moved back to the stream. It was dark and Rika was a little frightened.

' How can you see so well in the dark?', she squinted her eyes to get a better view of him.

'I'm part wolf…what do you expect?', he shrugged his shoulders, grabbed his jerkin that was hanging off a tree and sat down, and accidentally put pressure on his ribs, he then groaned with pain.

'It still hurts, huh?', she noticed that the wound must had reopened and ran over to him, 'Here- let me help.', she pulled out some moss and dipped it in the stream, and ringed it out. Rika then unwound the buckskin bandage and placed the moss on the wound, and re-wrapped the buckskin. Maheegun was in less pain. ' Any better?', she sat down next to him.

' A little..', Maheegun smiled and looked at her, and stood up slowly.

He's strong, Rika thought. She turned her head towards the bushes she came out of and walked towards them.

' Where are you going?', Maheegun looked at her.

' To get my bow and some food..', she walked into the cover of the bushes, and popped her head back. ' Why, are you going to miss me?, she smiled and then carried on walking into the forest.

Maheegun was going to miss her, but he tried really hard not too show it. He liked her. The moon shone very brightly it was clear enough to see everything around him. The moon reminded Maheegun of Jargo, he was aching to howl for him, but he was too near the Lynx camp. He would have to finish washing his clothes or lay down and wait for Rika to come back. Maheegun laid down and blew a grouse feather into the air, bringing up a small tornado of sandstone particles. As time when by, he drifted into a sleep, and dreamt about Rika, oh, Rika. He didn't know why he liked her, nor if she even liked him!

As he slept, something rattled the leaves of the bushes, and moved quickly over the frosted ground, Maheegun was not aware. Suddenly, a big furry figure came out from the cover of the bushes. It was Jargo, Maheegun's beloved pack-brother, who had come to comfort him. Jargo snuggled up next to Maheegun, his winter coat acted as a warm blanket that would provide him warmth.

'_I'm here brother. You will be fine. Give the wound time._', Jargo said softly to him.

'_Brother._', Maheegun said in his sleep, he rolled over and hugged Jargo, hugging his pack-brother, hugging the great warmth.

Rika finally came back with supplies when she saw the big wolf. ' Yaw!! Shoo! Move!!!', she was trying to move the big wolf away with noises and arm movements, but she could not. That wolf was part of Maheegun's life. She saw the boy lying next to the wolf, and she tried to get close and wake him up…

Jargo growled at the Lynx girl. ' _Get away! Let him sleep, girl!_', he laid his head around Maheegun's and kept an eye on Rika…


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: A well earned rest.

Maheegun awoke before dawn, finding himself laying next to his pack brother, Jargo. With excitement he sat up and patted and grabbed him on the flank. Rika was sleeping on the other side of the sandstone bank of the stream and near his drying clothes and pack. Jargo was watching her, he didn't trust her one bit. Maheegun once told him about his lynx mother and how she ran away – Jargo didn't want the same to happen now, he didn't want his pack-brother to be betrayed, the lynx should never be trusted.

Maheegun stood up and put on his jerkin on, then tying his belt on. These were the only clothes near him, he walked over to the other side and grabbed his damp ones, like his over-jerkin, quiver and pack, and accidentally woke Rika. She yawned and lifted her upper body up and propped it on her arm. ' Who is that wolf?', she said and yawned once more.

'He's my pack-brother', he felt his over-jerkin for dampness. 'Why? Has he given you a hard time?', he threw his equipment over his shoulder and sat next to her.

'He sure does growl a lot…', Rika looked at the watchful canine and stuck out here tongue, Jargo growled, and Maheegun looked at her.

'Who? Jargo?', who then looked at him, ' He doesn't trust the Lynx Clan.', he decided to put on his outer jerkin and took off his belt underneath, then re-tied it over his over-jerkin.

Rika looked at him, wondering why he and the wolf didn't trust her people. ' Why?'

'My mother abandoned me when I was very young. She was Lynx.'

'Oh', she felt pity for the wolf-boy.

'So.. Jargo doesn't like you huh?', he smiled and looked at  
Rika, waiting for a response.

'I wouldn't say he doesn't like me…', she stood up and walked closer to Jargo. '…as you said, he just doesn't trust me. yet.'. She walked closer to Jargo and tried to pet him, but he snapped at her and growled. Maheegun burst out laughing. ' Shut up!', she looked at the wolf – who was still growling at her, and backed away. She ran up to Maheegun and slapped him on the face.

He stopped laughing, 'Hey! What was that for?', he said while stroking his cheek.

'You let that happen!' she yelled.

'Yeah, I know. It was funny!', he resumed laughing.

' You still haven't told me your name yet, wolf-boy!', she now waited for an answer.

'It's Maheegun, of the Wolf Clan.', he said calming himself from laughing. The fire shard around his neck began to glow. Rika noticed it.

'And, Maheegun. What is that necklace?, she looked very scared, she was pointing to the fire shard.

'I told you before, it's a stone.', Maheegun lied – but it was no use. Rika was bound to ask questions.

' Please tell me – what it is.', she was determined to find out.

'I - I'm a fire keeper. This 'stone' is part of the legendary fire-stone. This is a fire shard.', he hated himself, as he was breaking the Brethren law of secrecy.

Rika was amazed. When she was younger she heard of the heroic tales of the fire keepers, and how they had power from the fire-stone, which was broken before the Great Wave. The fire keepers each kept a shard of it. ' I didn't know that they still existed!......How?'

' It doesn't matter. No more about it, Ok?', the little he had told her was still too much. Rika still was amazed. Her Maheegun was a fire keeper. He looked down at his glowing shard. ' Earlier, when you found me, you mentioned someone hunting me?'

'Quirnoc.', she said, she couldn't believe she forgot to tell him. This is why she came looking for him.

'Quirnoc, the man who saved my life – is now hunting me?!', Maheegun couldn't believe it. Quirnoc seemed like an innocent type of fellow.

' Since he became Idonu's mate, he has been trying to win her fathers approval, and her father wants you to be re-captured. So he sent Quirnoc to go.', she was a little frightened, Quirnoc could be anywhere.

'Idonu. Idonu.', Maheegun had heard this name before. ' I'm sorry I didn't mention this earlier, but, I have many people after my skin. If you want to go with me, stay. If you don't, get as far away from me as possible!', he was in a rush, he grabbed his pack and packed food and a bag of fairly large rocks.

'I'm not leaving you! I'm going whether you like it or not!', she placed her hand on his cheek and looked at him. He looked back and then smiled, he then looked away.

He looked at Jargo, who was sleeping. ' Then we head south..'


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The plan to freedom

When the fire shard lights, it meant either two things. Danger or the Brethren calling. Sometimes it confused Maheegun.

There was a distant rattle that awoke Jargo. Something had disturbed the forest – and it was the unmistakable scent of Auroch. The evil hunters had come for Maheegun. Jargo had to warn him….

Jargo let out a danger bark and Maheegun scanned the view of the forest. ' Rika! Get down!'. There was no use in calling. They were out in the open and if they traveled into the forest, they may be caught.

'_What is it brother?_', he softly yipped across the bank.

'_Aurochs_.', Jargo replied.

Maheegun thought he had gotten rid of them back near the south-eastern ridge. They must have followed the trees on the high ledge and followed them. How could he do this? Maheegun thought. He had endangered himself, Jargo and the lynx girl, Rika.

'Maheegun, what is it?', Rika was worried. She really hadn't thought about this properly. She signed up for something she wasn't sure she wanted to do.

'I told you about some of the people hunting me, eh? Well these are Auroch hunters – with Belktru!'

'Belktru is after you!??? There is no way he is going to let you go! Your going to die wolf-boy!, she added. She didn't want to go along with him, but she made a commitment. And she wanted to prove to Jargo that she could be trusted.

'Oh, thanks. How very comforting! It is nice learning that this may be your final hour of your life! I want to grow up, become chief, have kids – like I'm supposed to! My life is far from over!', he panicked. Maheegun was actually taking notice of death. He had never done this before.

'Fine. Then let us find a way out of here!!!', she yelled in his face.

'_Shut up you two. Quit arguing. The Aurochs are nearing. We may still have a chance._', Jargo wanted to live too. And he was very annoyed at the two taillesses yelling. They were loud.

'What did he say?', Rika was very confused, she couldn't understand the wolf's talk – and Jargo couldn't understand tailless talk!

'He said for you to shut up and stop panicking - and he said you are stupid.', Maheegun laughed hard. Rika then slapped him on the cheek, again.

'Ask him how to get out of here!', She said. Maheegun did so.

'He says he doesn't know where they are yet. We must wait until they are closer. It shouldn't be long.', his expression turned scared, and he should be. The bloodthirsty Aurochs shed no mercy.

Rika was terrified. Belktru was a hero for the Aurochs. He won many unnecessary wars and killed many innocent people. He would be what we call a 'warmonger', simply to show his false strength. He was no hero, and he was not kind. His mate, Oktla, was forced to marry him.

'_The scent is from the south…_', Jargo barked.

'The south?! But that would mean they went around us…', Maheegun suddenly felt the urge to kill himself, for his shame to die with him. But that wouldn't help anything. He sighed, 'Let us take the route to the south-western ridge. It is quite north from here, but it is our only hope. The ridge walls curve around a valley and have caves and tunnels within them, and it would lessen the chance of the Aurochs finding us.', he really didn't want to go back that far. It seemed farther than it actually was, but, it took so much for them to get that far, and, it would all have been a waste to go back.

'Ok. How long will it take?', Rika was happier, but she still was worried that the Aurochs were going to find them.

'Well-. We found your settlement quarter of a daywalk from the ridge. But, we are about half from the settlement. With food and sleep – it would take a day.', he couldn't believe it. They needed to get out of there fast.

'We better hurry. They could be here at any moment.', she smiled and looked at him. Maheegun tried not to notice her, but he couldn't.

'We've got time…', he smiled back. Rika pulled him towards her and whispered something in his ear. This annoyed Jargo, he couldn't hear what the female tailless had said. When she had finished, she kissed him on the cheek and crawled into the bushes, staying low until she reached the edge of the forest. Maheegun was sad she was gone and rubbed the spot were she had both slapped him and kissed him on the cheek.

'_Yay! She's gone! Now can we go?_', Jargo begged like a dog whining for a scrap of meat.

'_Yes. Let me pack my things._', Maheegun said softly while still looking at the spot where Rika had vanished.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The arrival of the Aurochs, let the plan unfold…..

It was nearly noon by the time Maheegun and Jargo were nearing the south-western ridge. The sun beat down heavily on them and they were soon exhausted. It was just the two of them now. Rika had left, and Maheegun didn't know how long it would be like that. When they came to the ridge walls, he made false tracks around some of the tunnels and intentionally scratched his jerkin and pack on the wall, so that the Aurochs would follow the tunnel and become lost. Further down the winding passage, Maheegun planted sharpened sticks (which he had used to make his cooking tripod when he last stayed) in the dirt, sticking toward the entrance and smeared ochre on the walls, he did this on each passage, each identical – to confuse the hunters and drive them out and go to a different entrance. Maheegun and Jargo knew by this point that the Aurochs, and Belktru their leader, were not entirely stupid. And they knew that they shouldn't treat them like they were.

It was late afternoon, and Maheegun played watch-out for the hunters. He also hoped that he could play watch-out for Rika, to see her shadowed figure pop up from behind the trees. He heard the rattle of bows knocking on bones, the hunters running. Maheegun didn't know what to do. He had no plan, not that he needed one. He had a sharp mind. He could feel the wind whispering the hunters whereabouts to him….they were here…

Maheegun ran as fast as he could to the top edge of his cave, trying not to fall off in the process. He jumped off the ledge and caught on to the rock, and swinging into the cave. There he alerted Jargo and the 'Be quick' plan was ready to take place. They both split up and traveled into different tunnels. Jargo knew his way because of the smell, and Maheegun knew it because he used to play in them at the clan meeting by the Deep Forest. The bag of rocks he collected earlier would take part in this – he could throw them in different tunnels to signify movement, thus leading to the hunters following the noise. Jargo and Maheegun would never be more than ten paces apart, and when the time was right he would signal for the attack.

Maheegun could hear footsteps treading into the caves, he also heard the voices of the Aurochs.

'Which way?', one asked

'This way!', another replied

'Which way?', the first one said again

'THIS WAY!!! LEFT!!!', she yelled him saying the direction was to Maheegun's advantage.

Maheegun threw a small rock into the right tunnel. He heard the hunters bunch together and then follow the noise. Just like his plan, but things don't always go that way. Then he heard the voice of Belktru, his voice was different to the others, his was deeper and louder and sounded sturdy – like an Auroch.

He said, 'Be careful. These thieves are not as stupid as they may seem. Look for them carefully.'. Maheegun heard him walk to his tunnel and he quickly threw a rock in the dark. Belktru slid his feet to the other direction and walked quickly to the left tunnel. 'Move out of the way!', his voice echoed through the dark winding caverns of the south-western ridge. Maheegun then heard the rattle of bows clinking on bones, and then heard the bang of a stick being thrown to the ground. They had found the leading cavern.

Maheegun made a series of high barks and blew on a grouse bone whistle that Jargo seemed to react to. This would signal Jargo to get out of there. He could barely see in the dark – his natural night vision hadn't kicked in yet. Jargo quickly crawled on his stomach over to him, there they both waited until the hunters came back their way.

'Aklof. Search that tunnel there. You – Thresha, stand outside until I give the signal.

Thresha had walked out of the caverns. There were only six of them now, and Maheegun wanted them to bunch together and head for the right tunnel – all together. What signal – what for? Maheegun thought.

'Belktru, it is a trick – surely.', the man gave a sigh. ' I don't want to risk my life anymore for your silly hunts..', Maheegun heard the footsteps of the man circle round and round.

' They are young. It should not be a problem!', the leader replied.

'Exactly! They are only young! Why bother? Why must we hunt down a couple younglings, Belktru? To serve your pride, so that our people will think you are strong? By killing children?!', Maheegun knew that the man who meant those words would be a great leader, that man should be the next Auroch chief.

'Yes! _I_ am the chief! _I _want to stay chief! _I_ don't want things to change, ok?! I do not want to be thrown out by _my_ own people. The only way is to seek revenge on those who terrorize my people.', he banged the wall.

'Terrorize? They stole a couple salmon cakes, Belktru!', he sighed again and stepped away, saying, '…terrorize…!'

'Aklof! They stole our entire winter savings. How can I not seek revenge on that? Our people may be dying!', he looked for every excuse he had, trying to preserve his pride.

'You should have come on the hunt, if not, then you should have helped gather berries and took to the forest to gather medicinal goods, who's fault was that, hmmm? Who's fault was that?, Aklof finally left. Maheegun heard Belktru pick up a stick and throw in against the other wall, killing someone slowly, Maheegun recognized this man, it was Itah – whom he could just about see in the dark. It had stabbed him in the throat, he could see him grabbing it and yanking the stick out. He reached up and touched the wolf fur on his over-jerkin. It would cleanse him from the bad spirits that crowded him.

Belktru fell to his knees, and so did Itah the runner who slowly died, he coughed up blood which splattered across the tunnel floor. Belktru took no notice of this, he was busy sobbing with guilt and grief. Loads of men gathered around Itah, and Aklof kneeled before him and quickly put on the soul marks.

'Fool! Have you not shed enough blood?', Aklof turned back to Itah and backed everyone away. ' Get no nearer to him. Let his souls rest in peace…', he pushed the last person away who was still looking at the dead one. It was D'hrun, Itah's foster brother.

'It hurts not being able to shout his name. He was so talented, a true gift from the World Spirit.', he said softly, '….what am I to do without him? He was the last of my family!'.

'Do not worry D'hrun. Where he is going he will not need a family.', his words didn't please D'hrun, as he was alone. Aklof placed his hand on his shoulder, but D'hrun shrugged it off, he was clearly thinking about something horrible, the expression on his face was both sad and terrified.

'I can't do anything without him now. He is my family!', Aklof restrained him from going toward the dead body. 'Get off! I said Get off!!!', D'hrun beat Aklof's arms away. 'Itah! Itah! Oh, Itah!', he cried, and as he cried he took out Itah's knife from it's sheath. Maheegun was watching all the way through, he just could not look away. H was watching the most gruesome, gory thing he had every seen. D'hrun brought the knife out and looked at it.

'D'hrun! No! D'hrun!!!!!', Aklof tried to pull him back, but he could not. 'D'hrun! No!!!', D'hrun plunged the knife into his heart and died. He fell on top of Itah and stayed there, his souls would be free in the cave, angry. No one could touch him, it was _his_ wish, _his_ decision, there was no point in making sure his souls lay to rest, as _he_ wanted to kill himself.

Maheegun's eyes still stared at the two corpses, piled on top of each other. He had brought this on and caused terror, or he had made it better. But how could he have made it any better by three of them dying? Or was it the Auroch leader's fault? Maheegun was terrified and confused. He would never forget that moment, it would always haunt him. Forever.

Maheegun and Jargo were still in the tunnel and still waiting for the hunters to crowd. The chances were now slim as between them were the dead bodies. They had to get out, and trap Belktru in, and Belktru only. The rest were good men, who deserved their ranks and roles in life, they deserved love from their people and families. Belktru didn't even want any of that, he wanted power, he had a hunger for power and possession. He was one of the seven evils, he was a Soul Eater………..


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Escape from the caves.

Maheegun sat up for the first tie in hours. His bottom had fallen asleep and was now aching. He must warn the other hunters, Thresha, Landr, Ioskna, Hrenfir, and most of all – Aklof. Jargo went outside to greet Thresha, and lead him into the tunnel where Maheegun was in.

'_Hey! Stupid monkey man that stinks of Auroch droppings! Hey, you!_', Jargo insulted the hunter, who could not understand him. Thresha looked at him and chased after him. Jargo still insulted him as he ran, saying, '_Your momma looks like an Auroch, and your daddy is a beaver! How do you like that? Pal!_', Jargo thought the insults were working so he kept on. They finally entered the tunnel and Maheegun crept behind the man grabbing him and covering his mouth, and pulled Thresha down.

'Shhh! I guess I should spare your life…..', he tried to sound tough, 'Get the remaining men and gather them outside – everyone but Belktru!', He pulled him further down until he agreed to do the assignment. He whispered, 'Make sure Belktru does not see you…'.

Maheegun let go. ' I- I'll do it, ok?, Thresha muttered. He left and Maheegun watched him go to every one of the remaining men, one by one telling them to go outside, and why – they all agreed. Maheegun ran as low as possible until he reached the entrance, there stood the remaining four.

' What do you want, kid?' We have been hunting you for a moon, an you come to us out into the open', said the man with the dark brown beard, and a necklace around his neck that resembled Maheegun's fire shard.

Maheegun pointed at it. 'Where did you get that?', Maheegun was curious.

'I found it in the tunnels, it was shining on the floor…', he replied, he seemed proud of his find. Maheegun looked at his bare neck, it must have fallen off.

Maheegun reached for it, 'That is mine.', he took it and said his apologies. He didn't want any more questions raised about it or the Brethren.

'What is it?', the man asked. This was the question Maheegun was dreading.

'He looked at the man and replied, 'A stone – gi-given to me by my father', he looked down, he hated lying. But when it came to the Brethren topic, he had to.

The man looked at him strangely, 'Oh', he said unconvinced. The fire shard was passed down to every boy in Maheegun's family since the year of the Great Cold. A gift from his father was a bit nicer to say. But in truth, it was more like a burden. The Keepers of Fire could not be changed, the burden was in the blood, too. Maheegun would never be free of it. He was, one of the last Fire Keepers.

Belktru still sat in the same place, in shock. He barely moved. But, outside the men were hearing the plan to free them of Belktru. The man with the dark brown beard was Ioskna, and said the last words to Belktru, who laid down in shame.

Thresha moved a boulder over Belktru's entrance and marked the boulder with ochre. The boulder could be not be moved from the inside, but, if Belktru was going to get out, he had to follow the southern tunnel all the way down to the Tumblerock river. It was a long way, but someone as strong as Belktru would most likely make it. He would end up far away from the Aurochs, they would be free, and so would Maheegun.

'Thank you. You were the first to ever overthrow a chief from our clan…You have freed us, and for that we shall spare your life.', said Thresha, he smiled greatly and shook Maheegun's hand.

'You will be greatly known throughout the Deep Forest. You will be a hero in our clan!', shouted Ioskna, Maheegun was now walking past them, retrieving a thank you from each of them.

'Maybe you will become a mage…Maheegun.', Hrenfir chuckled. '…..thank you!'

'Or maybe he will become the Wolf Clan's chief.' Aklof said. How did he know? Was he too a mage? Maheegun looked at him, 'Yes I know, Maheegun. I can tell if someone will become chief.' He smiled. 'I guess it is a gift, eh?', he then laughed and patted Maheegun on the back, then he too laughed. 'Come. We will have a celebration at the Lynx's camp…my brother is a Lynx.' The hunters and Maheegun and the young wolf, Jargo walked down the hill of the ridge and headed for the Lynx camp.

'The Lynx? But Quirnoc is after me!', he stopped, and looked at Aklof strangely. The settlement is the last place he would want to go.

'My brother is after you? Well then, I guess I will have to tell Mother on him then, eh?', Aklof laughed hard and so did the others. Quirnoc?? Aklof's brother, wow!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: A visit to the lynx

Dusk had set in by the time the hunters had reached the settlement. It was a fair walk south. The camp was crowded and Maheegun barely recognized anyone besides Idonu, the woman from his shelter. Maheegun made his way around the fires and to the post he was tied up at many days ago. There Idonu stood, pouring water out of a skin, into a bowl for the dog.

'Hello. I am Maheegun.', he said quite shyly. She turned her head and saw that it was him. She hugged him tightly and said,

'Oh. Maheegun, are you alright. Quirnoc didn't hurt you did he? Where is he? Oh I am so glad that you are alright!'.

Maheegun could barely breathe, but he could choke out, ' W-here is R-ika?', he really wanted to see her and couldn't wait until he did.

'Um. I don't know. Check her shelter, It is at the end, and on the left.', she was so worried about him and didn't know when to tell him that she is his mother. It troubled her – greatly.

'_Good luck, brother!_', barked Jargo. Maheegun quickly grabbed some flowers, nodded to Jargo and then set off.

Maheegun ran to the end shelters and circled left. He heard Rika's voice and saw her shadow in her shelter. Maheegun stepped backwards and acted tough, he would march right in there and tell her, tell her…..how much he missed her, yes! And, uh…….how much he cared for her, perfect! He was a little embarrassed, what if he makes a fool of himself, and in front of her? Maheegun stood outside, waiting for the right moment to go in. There were other female voices coming from the shelter as well.

Maheegun stepped into the tent and stood behind Rika, she did not know that he was there. But the other girls in the tent giggled and went out.

'Where are you going?', Rika asked Figta, her best friend, who had always been truthful to her.

'You will see…', she giggled some more and left the tent. Rika looked around and saw Maheegun standing in the doorway, smiling. He held flowers in his hands – with the roots and mud still clinging to it. Rika smiled back at him, and then laughed at the flowers.

'So….are you still on the run?', she asked him

'From some…', he replied, and handed the flowers to her. 'Come on…. let us celebrate!

'Celebrate what?'

'Must you always have a reason to celebrate?', he asked her, he then chuckled. They ran to the fires, and past the smiling Idonu, and Quirnoc sneaked up behind her and attacked, scaring her –but she laughed.

'I am sorry. I should have not gotten upset about nothing. Have you told him yet?', Quirnoc wrapped his mud stained arms around her shoulders.

'It is ok. But…', she sighed, '….no I have not told him yet. I do not know when….', her expression turned from happy to worried and then happy again. 'I will tell him, tonight. I just don't want to ruin his good time…'.

Maheegun and Rika were sitting around the fire with Idonu, Quirnoc, Aklof, Thresha, Hrenfir, Ioskna and Jargo. They were telling stories of hunts and embarrassing moments, and clan celebrations. These are the times Maheegun most loves. When the people he cares about are together and having fun, this was his family so he thought. He was not related to any of them, he thought – but it felt like he was. Jargo laid next to Rika and Maheegun, they stroked him asleep. Idonu and Quirnoc were fascinated about the stories that Aklof was telling.

'Brother, do you remember the time when..', Aklof took a bite of venison and chewed it, while speaking. '…….you ran into an elk calf when you were less than two summers old.', he looked at Idonu, '…he ran into the elk calf, and befriended it, eh, and tried to ride this calf into the village. It partially worked, but when the mother found out that the calf was gone, it came charging at him. But when it got to him, the mother stopped, picked up Quirnoc by his small buckskins with her teeth and set him down….', he took another bite. '…but, as she left, she pooped on his face. I watched from a distance in the forest – y'know, while I was looking for him. But then I laughed so hard I nearly fainted. He cried all the way into the village!'. Aklof laughed, and so did Maheegun, Rika, Idonu, and Jargo. Jargo did not understand why the taillesses were laughing, but he decided to yip anyway. Everyone who heard the story laughed, except for Quirnoc – as the story was true, and was his most embarrassing moment. He was a strong man, but the story was his weakness. He eventually started laughing, thinking that everyone will have forgotten about it by the morning.

Maheegun noticed that Aklof was a powerful speaker, but also a really jolly man. He loved to have a laugh. Quirnoc and him resembled some, though Aklof had a red beard and Quirnoc had shorter brown hair and no beard. His clan tattoos really stood out – a dark green bar across the bridge of the nose, and with no beard, the tattoo was the first thing you would notice. Quirnoc was a strong man, a powerful hunter and tracker, he belonged with his father's clan the Lynx. Aklof, on the other hand, decided to take on his mother's clan, the Auroch. The two brothers split apart, only seeing each other when a celebration took place in the Deep Forest.

Maheegun told Rika and the others about their journey so far, and where they were heading.

'I'm heading deep into the forest to attend the Fire Keeper meeting, I have to..', he felt safe telling them, they would never let his secret get out, ever.

'Yes. Your father tried to break the shard when you were born, to lift the burden from you…', Idonu said, she was leading to questions..

'You knew my father?', Maheegun was intrigued. He wanted to learn more.

'Yes, very well.', she sighed and briefly looked at Quirnoc who nodded his head. '…Maheegun, I must tell you something….I am your mother…..'. Maheegun was silent, shocked. He had no idea. There was silence around the fire and little movement.

Ioskna looked at every one of the others, who were either looking at Maheegun for a response, or at Idonu because they were shocked. 'Well…..this is awkward….', and everyone looked at him as he scratched his mange filled beard. 'Oh', he pointed at them, '….and I can leave…', he then nodded good-night to everyone and ran off.

'You-. Me-. Mother? What-. Why-?', Maheegun was so shocked he couldn't even finish his questions, it was unbelievable.

'I know it is quite sudden, but I thought that you should know…I am sorry.', Idonu looked around at everyone who were now looking at her. Rika put her arm around Maheegun's shoulder. He looked slightly constipated, as you do when you are shocked and still.

'Then-. Can I ask a question', Idonu nodded, '…why did you leave me?'


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: A shock to remember

Rika was shocked too. Idonu finally replied after many minutes.

'I did it because you were unsafe around me. 'They' were after me, but after I left, it had made things worse. They are now after you – please, please forgive me!', she begged him.

'Wow. Um, that.', he took a death breath, ' That is a lot to take in at the moment.', he tried laughing it out, but it wasn't the best time to. It was a lot to take in. It had been fifteen years since he had seen his mother. A long, long time. 'I'm sorry that I may be overreacting.. Um.', he looked down and shook his head in shame.

'No. No. No, you are not overreacting, son. You have every right to be mad at me.', she crawled on her knees to Maheegun and with her hand, pulled his head up.

'Mother..', Maheegun giggled, 'I have not said that in years!'. Maheegun hugged Idonu and Quirnoc, and his uncle Aklof. And then hugged Rika.

'Then let us celebrate that!', said jolly Aklof, holding in one hand a drink made from sassafras roots, he gulped it down and started singing, a more manly version of the song _When the breeze from the mountains_.

_When the breeze from the mountains,_

_blows in the valleys,_

_come the elk and the moose at the waters edge._

_The warrior's strength comes from the mighty auroch,_

_The tracker's from the wolf,_

_The fisher's from the whale,_

_And the trapper's from the mighty mountains!_

_Oh! The hunt has begun!_

_The hunt has begun!_

_The wilderness calls us men home!_

Maheegun and the men were singing it gruffly. Rika and Idonu crossed their arms and shook their heads. 'Let us leave them be, silly men', Idonu said harshly shouting "silly men" at them. They would later come back.

_Ufffff! Ufffffff! Uffff! _

_The wilderness calls us men home!_

The boys went wild. They drank a lot, and soon passed out. When Idonu and Rika came back, they each went to their man (Quirnoc and Maheegun) and woke them up helping them move to a shelter.

'Where am I?', asked the drunken Maheegun.

'In my shelter…you better not stink up the place!', she exclaimed at him, he was barely awake.

'Good night Rika…', Rika took off his wet and stained jerkin and covered him with animal skin blankets. He soon started snaoring.

Rika sighed and walked across the shelter to her bedroll. She heard Jargo walk through the entrance, ' Good night, Jargo'. He walked over and licked her on the nose. He then fell asleep on _her_ side, as Maheegun's side smelled really bad.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The leaving

The next morning Maheegun woke up with a terrible headache, and the light made it worse. He noticed Rika still asleep and caught a whiff of himself. He couldn't stand it at all! He stood up and yawned, and then walked out of the camp to the stream, where he washed. When he got out and after he had dried and gotten dressed – everything but his jerkin, as Rika still had it, he walked back to camp and into his shelter, where Rika was awake. She had made breakfast.

Maheegun reached out and tried to grab a piece but she smacked his hand away. 'Not yet. It isn't done!', Maheegun mocked her.

'What happen last night?', he asked, it was all a blur to him.

'Well let's see…..you:

were told that Idonu is you mother…'

'Oh yeah…', he remembered.

'..Got crazy and started singing very badly..', she stopped cooking and pointed them out.

'Hmm…'

'drank a lot with Quirnoc, Aklof and the boys……'

He sighed with embarrassment.

'And I had to help you walk here and you smelled really badly! There, that's about it!', she then continued cooking.

'Sorry!', and this time, he meant it.

They ate breakfast and left the shelter. They met up with Idonu and the boys, and Maheegun said that he needed to get to the Brethren soon. It would take him a maximum of two days. He would be back again to celebrate!

'There is no way you are getting rid of me now, Maheegun!', said Rika, 'I am coming with you!'

'Fine. But I must warn you! It is dangerous! Still willing?, he wanted her to come – really.

'Of course!', she also really wanted herself to come along.

'Well then. You three have a safe journey there and back again!' Quirnoc said, everyone waved and said their goodbyes for now. It was a good time, a good journey.

Maheegun, Jargo and Rika were going to the Brethren meeting, a journey not for the faint-hearted. Even if they were almost there……..

_**SO?**_** How was it??? Ummm….take it easy on me ok????? It is my first fic…but I shall improve!!!! **

**My next Fic will be a Zelda Fic about an immortal wanderer who tries to solve problems in the Hyrulian nations. The Stranger of T.P (Twilight Princess, guys….not Toilet Paper!!!) there will be a better summary…..**

End of Book 1 


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